A New Outlook

While the title "The Dead", is certain to draw readers to the story with its somewhat mysterious undertones, the story contains very few dead people. For my first reading of the story last year, I was only assigned the first half of the story, and I found myself questioning the title. Could Joyce have not found a more apt name? In fact, many of his stories begin with these bland statements about their contents, but generally the stories first few paragraphs indirectly explain the title. Yet, in "The Dead", the reader is left waiting until the end of the short story to find the true meaning of its heading.

Even though this story finishes out the Dubliners collection, it was in fact written a number of years after the other stories. Some scholars have even considered Gabriel Conroy as a cameo for Joyce himself. This work is distinctly different from the others because many of the other works criticized issues that reached across Ireland, whereas this story criticizes the main character's attitude and gives credence to Irish values. For this reason the title "The Dead" is especially poignant and telling. By naming this short story as such, Joyce is pointing to the figures like Michael Furrey, and like Gabriel's soon to die aunt. These people approach life with passion and emotion, willing to take part in the lives of others and put themselves out into the world for better or for worse. Gabriel on the other hand is unwilling or unable to interact with others socially or emotionally, and that is why his feelings are so base, and his interactions so awkward. In Gabriel, Joyce sees himself, criticizing Irish romanticism and the values of his native culture, and calling for a more rational and worldly Ireland. However, this becomes the reason for his failures as a husband and as a man.

Similarly to how "The Dead", finishes the collection, the characters who have died and their importance comes only briefly at the end of the work. Yet, by understanding that this last few paragraphs, and especially these last few lines, alter Gabriel's perceptions, sheds a whole new light on the story. Just like in the other works we see and epiphany at the end, albeit a bleak one. As the title suggests, the dead are important because they allow Conroy, and possibly Joyce himself to see all that has been lacking from his life. No more would he criticize his homeland as a lost cause, but the possibility of rejuvenation and reinvigoration of Irish values would allow him to lead a more full life. Overall the title, "The Dead", brings the focus to those who have gone in the full heat of some passion, but for once they are not criticized but revered. The only question that remains with me is this: based on the fact that many of the stories are altered by their final line, how does the last line of this work change our perceptions beyond the changes already seen in the final paragraph?